[Sstr Maria]

Thinking about buying a 2022 Niro EX Hybrid. I am a big time kayaker guy. I put my 16 foot long 22 inch wide boat on my roof a lot. Or my 17.2 foot 20 inch wide kayak on the roof. Was wondering if any other kayaks or maybe even a cargo box would give me an idea of what kind of hit in MPG happens with a kayak or kayak like on the roof of your Niro. Will it go from 50 to 40 or even less more ?, Just trying to get an idea what it would do to MPG from actual Niro owners. I typically drive slower on highway with kayak on roof. In a 65 MPH speed limit I drive 65. If I have no kayak I go 70. So basically I follow the speed limit with a kayak on the roof. When i roads with 55 MPH I go maybe 60 MPH. 65 MPH is the highest were I live in NY. I have been in other states with speed limit as high as 70 but went no faster than 65. Make all sorts of friends when I do that, LOL.

Depends how far you want to drive with a kayak on the roof. I drive with one as close to home as possible, like within a half hour. I will not go on a 3 hour drive with one. Your fuel economy suffers greatly, I don't have exact figures, but approximately reduced in half, especially so the faster you go. On the highway, I will only drive 55 mph due to the imact regardless of the speed limit.

 

[Sstr Maria]

Half really? So if you were getting 50 MPG you only got 25 MPG? Really that bad? That would make this the wrong vehicle choice for me then. My current vehicle is a 2020 Ford Ecosport AWD were it gets in the summer about 25.5 MPG average and kayak maybe lowers it down in the 23 MPG. If it DROPS that much on the Niro clearly it is a bad choice for MY application. In the summer two to three times a week I drive at least 30 miles each way sometimes 50 miles each with 16 foot kayak on the roof.

Yeah it's a huge hit on fuel economy to have anything as big as a kayak acting as an air brake on the aerodynamic Niro. I have crossbars onto which I have mounted kayak saddles in which I carry my sit-on-top kayak. It's possibly because it sticks up to high that the drag is so strong. I've noticed the EV range in my PHEV cut in half when I'm carring the kayak.

 

[Sstr Maria]

So assuming you get 47 MPG no rack or kayak you then get 23.6 MPG with TWO kayaks I have transported 2 kayaks before but not often enough to know what MPG in past cars. . I used to have a Nissan Versa Note 2015 with no rack it could get as high as 38 MPH highway. With rack mine dropped to 34 MPG with one kayak in a Thule Slipstream rack down to 31 as long as I didn't go faster than 62 MPG higher like 68 MPH drop another 2 to 29 MPG. So if what you say is correct this is far worse in the Niro. Getting conflicting information here. My old 2015 Nissan only had 109 HP with CVT trans. Sounding like the less initial power the car has the worse the hit on MPG. Now my current car the 2020 Ford Ecosport doesn't sound so bad as it can get with kayak at least 23 MPG.

This is how mine is loaded on current car 2020 Ford Ecosport If I get the Niro it would be similar setup. . View attachment 7324

Actually since I don't drive far with my kayak on, it's the EV range of my PHEV that is cut in half at highway speeds. I would assume the gasoline range would be impacted the same, but perhaps not? It's also likely that the recommended sit-on-top kayak saddles I have are giving the kayak a higher profile and making it more of a "sail", increasing air drag.
Roof Racks a Drag on Fuel Economy

 

[Sstr Maria]

How Adventure Gear Strapped to Your Roof Affects Gas Mileage

Buick brought us along for wind tunnel testing at Lockheed Martin to find out.

www.menshealth.com

 

[Sstr Maria]

I agree about the speed BUT the specific vehicle seems to be totally relevant as well. Above there was a statement there Niro lost half the MPG. The article above says 27 percent loss with kayaks yet my own experience says its much lower in percent wise around 16 percent on my past Versa Note. . The article used ONLY one car to make there statement. That alone makes there assessment fatally flawed. So it looks to me the vehicle does in fact matter. I have always thought this hence my question of any kayak haulers using a Niro to see what they actually lost in MPG.

Well, aside from my crude observation, no one has done the actual measurement. Any such measurement will be subject to: vehicle conditions (vehicle weight, tire inflation pressure), kayak & carrier size & profile, atmospheric conditions (altitude, temperature, precipitation, wind speed and direction), driving conditions (distance, elevation change, direction & duration driven relative to wind), speed profile during the test, including EV and ICE range used.